“I Was Scared to Death”—Dale Earnhardt Jr Kept Wife Amy in the Dark About His Scary Health Condition That Could Have Torn Apart His NASCAR Career in 2014

The NASCAR world over the years has witnessed many horrific crashes. From fatal crashes involving legendary drivers like the late great Dale Earnhardt to career-ending crashes that leave long-term concussive effects, like the one involving Kurt Busch. Though, the sport has come a long way in terms of driver safety, going full throttle while competing against a fierce pack of 30+ drivers in an oval can never be devoid of risks.

Sometimes, drivers are caught in a haze, unknown about the brunt of the force received to the head as these effects take a few days to emerge. Recently, NASCAR veteran, Dale Earnhardt Jr recounts his horrible days following the vicious crash at Kansas Speedway in 2012.

Talking to Graham Bensinger, the 2x Daytona winner recalled the horrors of concussions and what it’s like to endure through unbalanced eyesight, sinus, uncontrolled anger, and memory-fades. Dale Jr also revealed why he kept the severe injury to himself not even revealing it to his wife, Amy Earnhardt.

Dale Earnhardt Jr relives his stunned self as the veteran details the  concussive effects

Recently, renowned journalist Graham Bensinger dropped his latest interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr and his wife, Amy Earnhardt. The hour-long video had a section wherein the driver spoke about what he had to live through, confused and dazed with major concussive symptoms. Following his wreck in 2012 during testing, Dale Jr developed concussive symptoms and his doctor deemed the injury to be very serious.

While the driver was riddled with major wrecks and crashes during the later part of his career, during the conversation he revealed the worst experience he had to go through. Feeling lightheaded, he explained how even the simplest of daily tasks seemed more like a predicament. The JR Motorsport co-owner even had to hide his troubled state from his better half.

“Buckling a belt, tying a knot in a shoelace was a challenge like you couldn’t put a sentence together because you couldn’t remember a word if you had a word with like 2 consonants together like or even three like match or something simple you’d struggle,” said the 48-year-old recalling the horrors.

“Your tongue would feel like it was a big balloon in your mouth, eyesight problems would be … if I looked at something very close to me, like you shoe and then look at something outside out in the yard, it might take my a few seconds to focus on that item,” he recalled. 

And when Graham asked why he hid the hellish experience he went through even from his wife, Junior had a simple yet profound answer, “I was scared to death.” He then described his mentality at the time, “I was just really frightened, I was I wasn’t ready to let everyone know that was going on, I was hoping that it would go away, you know.”

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He furthermore added to his defense, “This may be wrong and a bad comparison but I think if you had any ailments you wouldn’t be so ready to share that with people, you might need some time to yourself to process it before you are open about it.” On the other hand, Amy shared her emotions about Dale Jr keeping his struggles from her. 

Amy reveals how annoyed she was with her husband; Dale Jr shares his frustration

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Graham also asked Amy what she felt when she eventually figured it out, “What was your reaction when you found out in 2014 that he had been hiding a lot of the symptoms from you?”

She said, “Part of it was a little bit of anger, I was annoyed with him obviously. I want him to share everything and that’s not something you hide, that’s really severe and serious and he should have been treating it versus hiding it.” Dale Jr reflected that it was a conscious decision he made out of fear. 

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When the effects got worse, Dale Jr made notes on his phone, keeping an account of his experiences. He also shared his disappointment with himself as he saw that his fellow drivers were able to manage it pretty decently. He said, “I’m scared you know, I was having these simple little crashes that were giving me problems. Why? Why am I not able to deal with these crashes that everyone else around me can deal with?” 

Even as he bore the aftermath of his numerous wrecks, Dale Jr soldiered on, even picking up impressive wins as the driver ended his winless drought with Steve Letarte as crew chief in HMS. Dale Jr eventually retired in 2017 after an illustrious career spanning almost two decades.